Final Pleas Set For Bruton Heights

May 09, 1990|By SUSIE DORSEY Staff Writer

WILLIAMSBURG — What may be the last public discussion about the disposition of the Bruton Heights School property will be held during the City Council's meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday in the city-county courthouse.

Tempy Cornelius-Fisk will make the last argument on behalf of Citizens for Community Progress that the building should be converted into a human resource center to provide space for such things as local charities, municipal programs including recreation and practice space for performing groups. She said she will outline how renovation for such uses could be funded.

Bruton Heights, closed at the end of the 1988-89 school session, has been declared surplus by the Williamsburg-James City County School Board and has reverted to city-county ownership. The two governing boards have been negotiating in private to decide the fate of the property.

The only two alternatives being discussed publicly are the renovation proposed by the citizens group and Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's request to purchase the property.

Because the property is in the city, the council has taken the lead in discussions. Hodges supports selling the property to CW and said recently that a majority of council supports such a sale.

Disposal of the property is being negotiated by Hodges and Councilman Stephen D. Harris for the city and by Jack Edwards and Thomas Norment of the James City Board of Supervisors.

Hodges, however, said Tuesday the council cannot make a decision Thursday because it is waiting for the county to make its decision.

Edwards disputed that. "We are looking for a solution both sides can be relatively happy about. I hope we can jointly decide and jointly announce the decision although Williamsburg is clearly taking the lead and James City, to the extent possible, will go along."

Norment said the discussions have stretched out longer than anticipated in part because "the county has reconsidered some of the alternatives and how they would affect James City. Now, we are in a position to make a decision."

Norment predicted the Board of Supervisors will reach agreement at its May 21 meeting.

Despite the sometime tense relationship between the city and county, Edwards and Norment stressed the spirit of cooperation that has dominated the current negotiations.

If Norment is right and the county can relay its position to the city in two weeks, the council could vote before July 1, when newly elected council member Joel Whitley takes his seat. Whitley said when he announced his candidacy that he supported selling the property to CW and in later campaign appearances spoke in favor of swapping land with CW.

Despite Hodges' contention, it's not clear that a vote before Whitley succeeds George Genakos on July 1 would favor CW. Harris said he had not taken a position and Darling, whose husband works for CW, has a conflict of interest and will not vote. Genakos and Trist McConnell are members of the citizens group and Genakos favors retaining the school, but McConnell said Tuesday he will not take a position until after Fisk's presentation Thursday.

Although McConnell said the argument for a public-private partnership must be very persuasive and must be multi-jurisdictional, if he and Genakos do vote to retain the building, only Harris could join Hodges in voting to sell to CW to deadlock the council at 2-2.

In the meantime, the citizens group is going ahead with efforts to have the building designated as a historic landmark.

Fisk said that if the group is turned down by the council, she hopes it will seek another site for a similar project.